ORLANDO, Fla. (April 21, 2018) ā Orlando City SC (4-2-1, 13 points) jumped out to a 3-0 lead before defeating the San Jose Earthquakes (1-3-2, 5 points) 3-2 on Saturday at Orlando City Stadium. Dom Dwyer scored his 100th career goal assisted by Justin Meram, rookie Chris Mueller scored the fastest goal in Orlando City history and earned his first professional assist in Sacha Kljestanās second goal of the season.
A sell-out crowd of 25,527 saw the Lions capture their fourth win in a row and their third straight win at Orlando City Stadium.
āAnother night I think the fans got their money's worth; another night the coach gets a few more grey hairs,ā Lions head coach Jason Kreis said. āBut really, really pleased, obviously with four wins in a row. Really, really pleased with three wins in a row at home and I think weāre moving in a very positive direction. Thatās the good news. The bad news is we still have a way to go but if you look at it one more way, itās good that we know that - that we know we can do better.ā
Mueller got City on the board just 63 seconds into the match. Yoshimar YotĆŗn launched a cross-pitch ball for Mueller to chest down before turning the corner and rifling the ball into the roof of the net. It was Muellerās third goal in three games and the earliest goal in City history, 35 seconds earlier than KakĆ”ās penalty kick on April 17, 2016 against the New England Revolution.
Then in the 35th minute, YotĆŗn played a through ball for Mueller, who drove into the box and unselfishly laid it off for Kljestan to tap in. It was Kljestanās second goal as a Lion and gave him four consecutive games with a goal or an assist.
Dwyer got his centennial goal in the 69th minute when Meram, who came on nine minutes earlier, found Dwyer in the box. Dwyer took a touch around Quakes goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell and slotted home his fifth goal in four games this season.
Tarbell saved Meramās penalty kick attempt in the 86th minute.
San Jose scored on two corner kicks in the 78th and 90th minutes to pull within one.
Cityās victory was the first for either team in the all-time series. All three previous meetings against San Jose ended in draws.
The Lions have won four straight for the third time in Club history. City won five straight from September to October 2015, four straight from October 2016 to March 2017 and four in a row in April 2017.
The match saw Cristian Higuita make his second start of the season and midfielder Oriol āUriā Rosell make his Orlando City debut when he came on for Higuita in the 84th minute.
In celebration of Earth Day, both teams wore adidas Parley jerseys as part of MLSā league-wide Greener Goals campaign, which were made of recycled ocean plastic waste. It was the second year that City took part in this initiative.
Next up, City heads to Colorado to take on the Rapids on Sunday, April 29. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. ET and will be nationally televised on ESPN. The Lions return to Orlando City Stadium on Sunday, May 6, to host Real Salt Lake at 5 p.m. ET.
Tickets to all City home matches are available at OrlandoCitySC.com or by calling 855-ORL-CITY.
Match Notes
- This is Cityās third four-game winning streak in Club history. City won five straight from Sept. to Oct. 2015, four straight from October 2016 to March 2017 and four in a row in April 2017.
- F Dom Dwyerās goal was the 100th goal of his professional career. It was Dwyerās fifth goal in four games this season. It is the first time Dwyer has scored goals in four consecutive games since October 2016.
- F Chris Muellerās goal 63 seconds into the match was Orlando Cityās fastest ever, passing M KakĆ”ās penalty kick 98 seconds into Cityās draw against New England on April 17, 2016. Mueller is the first Lions rookie to score goals in three consecutive games since F Cyle Larin did it twice in 2015.
- The match marked M Yoshimar YotĆŗnās second two-assist game as a Lion (W, 6-1 vs. New England on Sept. 27, 2017).
- F Chris Muellerās assist was the first of his professional career and the first by a Lion rookie since F Hadji Barry vs. Real Salt Lake on March 6, 2016.
M Uri Rosell made his Orlando City debut in the 84th minute when he came on in place of M Cristian Higuita. - M Will Johnson made his 30th start as a Lion.
- This is the first victory for either side in the all-time series. The Lions and Quakes tied their three previous games.
- Orlando City improves to 2-0-0 all-time in Parley jerseys.
Scoring Summary:
ORL - Chris Mueller (Yoshimar YotĆŗn) 2ā
ORL - Sacha Kljestan (Chris Mueller, Yoshimar YotĆŗn) 35ā
ORL - Dom Dwyer (Justin Meram) 69ā
SJ - Florian Jungwirth 78ā
SJ - Florian Jungwirth (Magnus Eriksson) 90ā
Misconduct Summary:
ORL - Yoshimar YotĆŗn (Yellow Card) 65ā
SJ - Yefferson Quintana (Yellow Card) 73ā
Lineups/Substitutions:
Orlando City SC - GK Joe Bendik, D Mohamed El-Munir, Amro Tarek, Lamine SanĆ©, Will Johnson, M Yoshimar YotĆŗn, Cristian Higuita (Uri Rosell 84ā), StĆ©fano Pinho (Justin Meram 60ā), ā Sacha Kljestan, Chris Mueller (JosuĆ© ColmĆ”n 78ā), F Dom Dwyer
Substitutes Not Used: GK Earl Edwards, Jr., D Donny Toia, RJ Allen, M Dillon Powers
San Jose Earthquakes - GK Andrew Tarbell, D Shea Salinas (Jackson Yueill 68ā), Francois Affolter, Yefferson Quintana, Nick Lima, M Jahmir Hyka (Valeri Qazaishvili 68ā), Florian Jungwirth, Anibal Godoy, Magnus Eriksson, F Danny Hoesen (Quincy Amarikwa 82ā), Chris Wondolowski
Substitutes Not Used: GK Matt Bersano, D Jimmy Ockford, M Fatai Alashe, Christopher Wehan
Details of the Game:
Time: 7:38 p.m. ET
Weather: Clear
Date: April 21, 2018
Attendance: 25,527
Stats:
Possession:
ORL - 51.4 %
SJ - 48.6 %
Shots:
ORL - 11
SJ - 11
Saves:
ORL - 1
SJ - 3
Fouls:
ORL - 14
SJ - 19
Corners:
ORL - 3
SJ - 8
